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SCMP Reporters

This story is freely available to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.
Day four in Tokyo saw another impressive display from one of Hong Kong's athletes.
Siobhan Haughey picked up where Cheung Ka-long left off, finishing second overall in the semi-finals of the women's 200m freestyle. Her performance gives her a shot at a medal in Wednesday's final, when she will go up against the likes of Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus.
There was also success for Doo Hoi-kem in the table tennis, who reached the quarter-finals with a dominant display, although the women's epee team are out of the fencing.
Reporting by Paul Ryding and Jonathan White (in Tokyo), Patrick Blennerhassett, Josh Ball, Chan Kin-wa, Tom Biddington, Nazvi Careem, Nick Atkin, and Andrew McNicol.


Tokyo Olympics: China women's football team crash out after 8-2 humiliation by Netherlands – day 4, as it happened

The Netherlands in action against China in women's football group stage action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Photo: Xinhua


Sport

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games


Goals galore in Yokohama as China suffer embarrassing end to their group campaign in 8-2 defeat
American gymnastics superstar Simone Biles to be 'assessed daily' after withdrawing from team final over mental health concerns



Goals galore in Yokohama as China suffer embarrassing end to their group campaign with the Dutch running out 8-2 winners. 


Live

Seriously, how do you even begin to talk about yesterday. What an amazing performance from Cheung Ka-long. Fortunately, I don’t have to, Paul Ryding is in Tokyo and gave his immediate reaction what was a golden day for Hong Kong.




Day 3 recap


The Ariake Arena will host what many predicted to be the Tokyo 2020 gold medal match for women's volleyball in pool B this morning, when Olympic champions China take on the world No 1 US team - and it is not too soon to say that it is must win for Lang Ping's side.
China, with Rio 2016 MVP Zhu Ting sufffering with a wrist injury, were absolutely demolished by Turkey in the their opener. The match ended 3-0, but it's not like they were particularly close sets.
"Let's try to make up for it,"  the coach said afterwards. A win over the US, and the Turkey trouncing would be long forgotten, lose and China have no room for error in their final three group games and even then it could still be out of their hands.


A final dress rehearsal?

Hong Kong's golden games continue, with star swimmer Siobhan Haughey first in the pool at 9.30am Hong Kong time. She cruised into the semi-finals as eighth fastest in the heats and was happy with her race.
“My goal for tonight was to just make it through to the semi-final. I was in a good position because I didn’t have to go all out to make it. That was my goal and I did it,” she said afterwards. “What’s important is to go back and recover and really be on top of my game for tomorrow,”
We will see if she is on top of her game when she goes up against Australia's latest national hero Ariarne Titmus, and Canada's Penny Oleksiak in heat one. Katie Ledecky is among those in heat two. The eight-fastest swimmers make tomorrow's final.


Haughey first up for Hong Kong


It’s only 20 square miles of land in the middle of the Atlantic, and has a population of about 60,000, but don’t let that fool you. 
Bermuda’s Flora Duffy stormed to her country’s first-ever Olympic gold in the women’s triathlon this morning. It was only the second Games medal the tiny island nation has won, after Clarence Hill took bronze in boxing in Montreal in 1976.
Duffy finished in 1hr, 55 mins, 36 secs, more than a minute ahead of Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown (1:56.50). Katie Zaferes, of the US, took bronze in 1:57.03.


Small but mighty


Want to know more about Hong Kong’s golden boy? Of course you do.
Fortunately, Andrew McNicol has got you covered. Here’s our look at the unassuming hero you never knew about.


Who is Hong Kong Olympic gold medallist Cheung Ka-long?


Jonthan White in Tokyo
“I just passed the Aussie women's rugby sevens team training in the rain ahead of playing the hosts in their opener on Thursday and yes, that's right, it is raining in Tokyo, following days of baking hot sun.
“As if these Olympics needed another spanner in the works, there is now a chance today's order of play at the Ariake Tennis Park gets pushed back. Centre Court is inside the Ariake Coliseum, which has a retractable roof, but Court No 2 and the others are outdoor.  The tennis is set to start in a hour. Several other events today are outside.”


Rain, rain, go away

Winning a gold medal is one thing, winning gold on home soil is an entirely different level of accomplishment. Patrick Blennerhasset takes a look at four athletes and the most famous football team of all-time to have brought glory with iconic performances in their own backyards.
Read his report here.


Winning at home

It would be better to be in the second semi-final for Siobhan Haughey as then she would know what she needed to do, but Haughey looked relaxed in the call room.
Most of the others in her heat looked nervous, but our girl was sat in her chair. Come on.
Elsewhere in her heat is the Olympic record holder Alison Shmitt, the London 2012 gold winner was also sat down ahead of the heat, for what its worth. All eyes on lane six for Haughey.


Siobhan Haughey: here we go


Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey has picked up where Cheung Ka-long left off, what an impressive swim. She’s finished second in her semi-final in the 200m freestyle.


What a result


Jonathan White in Tokyo
“A great swim of 1:55.16. Haughey led for much of that, and was just outside world record pace at 100m. She finished second after Ariarne Titmus turned on the afterburners in the final 15m, but that should be a place in the final. Get in.”
While Haughey finished second in her semi-final, it is the eight-fastest swimmers over two semi-finals who ultimately qualify. It is extremely unlikely that she’ll fail to make it though.


Haughey looking good for final spot

Confirmation that Haughey, who finished fourth at worlds in South Korea in 2019 in this distance, has a shot at a medal in tomorrow’s final and was faster than everyone but Titmus.
US star Katie Ledecky wins the second heat, but Hong Kong will be there with the US in the 200m free final.
In order of pace: Titmus, Haughey, Ledecky, China’s Yang Junxuan, Czech Barbara Seemanova, Penny Oleksiak of Candada, world record holder Federica Pellegrini of Italy and Madison Wilson.


Haughey second in qualifying

A Chinese Olympic athlete who did not make the air-rifle final was abused online before Chinese censors intervened and suspended 33 accounts.
The woman air-rifle contestant, Wang Luyao, placed 16th in the 10-metre air-rifle qualifying round, a disappointment for her considering she was a top medal contender.
Read our story about how a selfie she posted afterwards prompted a volley of abuse on social media.


Chinese athlete abused online

The third round match between Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi-kem and South Korea’s Shin Yubin has just started in Tokyo.
Doo has taken the first game 12-10.


Table tennis: women’s singles

Jonathan White in Tokyo
“Still thinking about how good a swim that was. Siobhan Haughey really set her stall out and despite being pipped by Ariarne Titmus at the end, the world knows all about the Aussie golden girl. Now those outside of swimming who become invested during the Olympics know about the Hong Kong hope, too.
“Part of me thinks that Haughey eased off the gas towards the end to leave a bit in the tank tomorrow, even if Titmus did speed up. Let's wait and see what happens. No pressure on Haughey from here, but it is incredibly exciting that she stormed the semis and looks in fine form ahead of the final.”


Analysis: Siobhan Haughey

Doo Hoi-kem is taking charge of her women’s third round table tennis encounter with Shin Yubin.
She leads the South Korean 2-0 and is pulling ahead in the third game.


Doo looking strong

There is action at the tennis on Centre Court but nothing outside. The good news is that we will still get to see Naomi Osaka continue her Olympic Games. She will be on after Frances Tiafoe of the US and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece wrap up their men's singles second round match.
The typhoon threat had already seen the archery for today rescheduled.


Tennis going ahead


Back at the scene of Cheung Ka-long’s triumph yesterday, the women's epee team are about to go off in their quarter-final match against China.
First up is young Kaylin Hsieh against Chinese ace Sun Yiwen. Sun scooped the individual gold on Saturday, so it's a big test for Hsieh.


Hong Kong’s women in the spotlight

Hong Kong's world No 14 and eighth seed here in Tokyo, Doo Hoi-kem, is halfway there in the third round of the women's singles table tennis.
Doo is 2-1 up against South Korea's much-vaunted teen Shin Yu-bin, who just pulled a game back. The 17-year-old Korean might be world No 94 in women's singles but she  is seen as a star of the future, having won a mixed doubles title on the ITTF Tour aged 15.
There is plenty of time for her - as we have seen with the results of the more experienced paddlers in Tokyo - but for now let's hope it's Doo going through to round four.


Doo’s halfway there


Decent opening round from Hsieh, she keeps it to 0-1 to China. Next up, Vivian Kong against China's Lin Sheng.


Decent start from Hsieh


Terrific second round from Vivian Kong, she edges Lin Sheng 4-3 to put the score level at 4-4 going into round three. Next up, the diminutive Coco Lin against China's Zhu Mingye.


All-square in epee

China's volleyballers appear to be back to their usual selves, which is great news for the Games. The first set against the USA went all the way and then some more. Lang Ping's lasses lost out 29-27 in the end but the signs are there that the Olympic champions have no intention of giving up their grip on the crown just yet.
Maybe Gong Li should get her Lang Ping tracksuit out ahead of filming a sequel to Leap.


US take early lead against China in volleyball

Just a recap of the rules of team fencing for the doubtless many new fans of the sport in Hong Kong: two teams of three compete in nine round-robin rounds. The winning team is the first to 45 touches, or whoever leads after the nine rounds are completed


Scoring in fencing

After taking the first two games and then the Korean teen taking the next two, Doo is 3-2 ahead of Shin now. Game six is neck and neck. These Olympics are no good for the nerves.


Nervy times for Doo


That's a damaging one for Hong Kong, Zhu takes a convincing 5-2 win against Lin to put China firmly in the driving seat after three rounds, 9-6. Next up is Hsieh against Lin.


China pull ahead in fencing

Paul Ryding in Tokyo
“That's a superb effort from young Kaylin Hsieh against the world No 5, Lin Sheng. She prevails 5-2 in round four to bring the overall score level at 11-11. Excellent stuff. Next up, Coco Lin meets big bad Sun Yiwen.”


All-square. That’s superb


I can’t take credit for the headline, that’s all Jonathan White.
“Hong Kong's No 8 seed held off the South Korean Shin to win 4-2. With the swmming and the fencing this is feeling like another good day for Hong Kong.”


That will Doo nicely


Ouch, that's a damaging one for Hong Kong. Lin got bullied by the world No 1 there. A tough round that felt like it would never end. Sun puts on 14 points against Lin. A mountain to climb for Hong Kong now. Probably too far to come back. Lin looks devastated.


Lin devestated after punishing loss

Maggie MacNeil’s victory in the 100m butterfly forces introspection given she was abandoned by her biological parents as a baby. Netizens on the mainland lament the circumstances that forced the swimming star out of her birth nation, but are full of praise for those who raised and trained her.
Read our full report here.


MacNeil win prompts soul searching in China

30-17 to China after six rounds. Coco Lin back on against Lin Sheng in round seven. That's not gonna be confusing at all. You can certainly tell them apart, Coco looks a foot shorter from up here. All to do for Hong Kong from here. We need something close to a miracle from Coco Lin here.


Hong Kong up against it

China's star swimmer Sun Yang might not be in the Tokyo pool after being banned until Paris 2024, but the triple Olympic champion is still trending on Weibo.
"I miss Sun Yang" was top of the sports topics on the Chinese social media site, which we are duly obliged to describe as Twitter-like.
This being any story involving Sun, there was more to come. Posts on rival swimmer Ning Zetao, who retired in 2019 aged 26, then began to trend to the top of the sports charts on the site.
The 2015 world champion’s Rio 2016 Olympics Games were complicated by controversy surrounding an advert he did for a milk brand that was not the official dairy partner of the Chinese Swimming Association. He was booted out of the team training camp for a while before a last minute recall and there are still some sour grapes over his treatment in some quarters.
Ning and Sun have long been seen as rivals despite not swimming the same events and their fans hate each other as fiercely as anything else on social media. This is probably not over yet.


It wouldn’t be the Olympics without Sun Yang


35-19 after the seventh. Kaylin Hsieh up next against Zhu Mingye. China almost there. Slight look of dejection down in the Hong Kong team box.


All but over for fencers


China might be 2-0 down and facing another whitewash but this is definitely better from the volleyballers. The US took the second set 25-22 but there are signs of life in China and more importantly Zhu Ting has top scored for them, so that injury might not be as bad as made out.
They really could do with winning the next set though. Not sure how inspiring another 3-0 loss will feel despite the positive signs.


US ease further ahead


Strong effort from Kaylin Hsieh. She takes a 6-3 win in round eight against Zhu. She's fenced very well this morning. Surely too little, too late, though. 38-25 to China as the last round starts.


Too little, too late from Hsieh?

Paul Ryding in Tokyo
“Hong Kong go out of the women's team epee. Well beaten 44-32 by a hugely impressive China team. They look like they could go all the way here today.
“A game effort from Kong in the last round, it should be noted. She beat world No 1 Sun Yiwen 7-6 when she had to go for it. After the majesty of Monday, it's a torrid Tuesday for Hong Kong's fencers.
“Better luck hopefully on Thursday, when our hero Cheung Ka-long is back on the piste in the men's team foil. Another medal chance? Dare we dream? We do have the world's best in our ranks, after all.”


Hong Kong out of epee


China's Ma Long looks to cap off an illustrious career at Tokyo 2020 starting today. The world's greatest table tennis player of all time, and three-time reigning Olympic champion, begins the defence of his men's singles title at noon against India's Kamal Achanta.
How good is Ma? Before the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) switched to a weekly world ranking system at the beginning of this year, Ma held the record for the longest time spent at the summit of the men’s rankings.
He was ranked No 1 for 64 months, dating all the way back to January of 2010.


A Ma-rvellous career

The Hong Kong women will fence again today, twice actually. They meet fellow quarter-final departees USA in a classifications match, before a possible placement match for fifth spot. But it's fair to say it all feels a bit "after the Lord Mayor's show" at this point. Almost as pointless as the Fifa World Cup 3rd-place play-off.


Tough to get excited about


Doo Hoi-kem will be back in action tonight. Her round of 16 game with the Dutch paddler Britt Eerland is scheduled for 7.30pm local time, the first match of the evening session.
On paper, the eighth seed and world No 14 beats the world No 27, but table tennis is not played on paper, It's played on tables. As we saw with Doo and partner Wong Chun-ting in their mixed doubles exit to the French pairing of Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jia Nan earlier in the week, anything can happen.
Doo was in floods of tears after that defeat, hopefully any more at these Games will be ones of joy.


A shot at redemption

China have slumped to a second 3-0 defeat in the volleyball, this time at the hands of the US.
They lost the final set 25-21. Their next game is against the Russians, on Thursday.


China lose in straight sets, again

Hong Kong’s first-ever Olympic champion, who won the windsurfing title in Atlanta 1996, hopes for more gold from the squad at Tokyo Games, and says she hopes the government will pour more resources into sporting facilities in the city after Cheung Ka-long’s victory.
“I am so happy that after 25 years, there is finally another Hong Kong gold medallist,” Lee told the Post. “And I hope there is more to come in Tokyo. We are all very proud of Edgar and Hong Kong people should be proud of him.”


Lee Lai-shan’s joy at Cheung’s Olympic gold


China’s shooters have won the first gold medal awarded for 10m mixed pistols.
Jiang Ranxin and Pang Wei did the business at the Asaka Shooting Range and then put their medals on one another for a rather touching photo opportunity.
"It was his idea,” Jiang said. “We think we needed team spirit in a mixed team event, so we wanted to show that with our action."
Pang was happy after going into the record books. "I am very happy. We made history. I am happy mixed team has been an Olympic event for the first time.”


China’s shooters make history

A valiant effort from India's Kamal Achanta, but he could not stop China's Ma Long, who beat him 4-1.
Achanta won the second game, and kept pace in the third, but the three time defending champion turned out to be too much. Next up for Ma is the round of 16 tomorrow, time and competitor still to be determined.


Comfortable win for Ma

Two athletes, including a Dutch tennis player, and 12 security staff for the Games have tested positive for the coronavirus, Jiji news agency reported on Tuesday.


Covid-19 update


(AFP) - Japan’s Naomi Osaka suffered a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to Marketa Vondrousova in the third round of the Tokyo Games on Tuesday, crushing her dreams of winning Olympic gold at home.
Osaka, chosen to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, struggled in an error-strewn display under the centre court roof at Ariake Tennis Park and was knocked out in 68 minutes.
She made a dreadful start by dropping serve in the opening game. The second seed was broken twice more as 2019 French Open runner-up Vondrousova raced away with the first set.
Osaka broke in the second set but relinquished the early advantage with a double fault that allowed Vondrousova to level at two games apiece.
The four-time Grand Slam winner grappled with inconsistency, and even when given a sniff of regaining the initiative she had no response to Vondrousova’s array of crafty drop shots.
Osaka saved two match points as she served to stay alive at 4-5 but Vondrousova converted at the third time of asking as the Japanese star smacked a backhand wide.


Naomi Osaka knocked out

It’s another defeat for Hong Kong’s women’s epee team in the classification match against USA. They go down 42-31 against vastly more experienced opponents. They’ll compete for a 7th/8th place play-off against Russia a little later


Another epee loss

Jonathan White in Tokyo
“This was not in the script. A nation had pinned its hopes on the four-time Grand Slam winner, and she had looked so good before today, cruising past her opening two opponents. Naomi Osaka did not look the same today, cutting a frustrated figure by the end as she could not find her shots.
“There is bound to be a debate over Osaka missing the past couple of months to focus on her mental well-being and how the pressure of being the face of the Olympics fits in with that. There are also bound to be people gleeful at her exit because she has refused to do media and walked away from the French Open, there are those who say, ‘well she knows what she signed up for, and she can't have it both ways’. That can all wait.
“This is a sad day for Osaka, fo her fans, for Japan and for the Games. Just as it is a great day for world No 42 Marketa Vondrousova and Czech tennis. Well done to her.”


Analysis: Naomi Osaka

Jonathan White has some thoughts.
“One other thought on Osaka's upset by Vondrousova ... will we see a social backlash as is so often the case? I have a feeling the Czech might not be the target but Osaka's comments sections will make for interesting reading in the coming hours.
“Given the phrase, or so I am told, is ‘I am here for a good time ... not a long time’ Osaka's last twitter post looks rather unfortunate.”
I’m here for a good time. pic.twitter.com/P10GyUAJt5
  — NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) July 26, 2021


Is there an Osaka backlash coming?


Siobhan Haughey made history this morning as the first Hong Kong swimmer to reach a final, fulfilling her own target at this Games, she said.
“It's really exciting” she said. “I knew, coming into the Olympics, I wanted to make finals in at least one event, so the fact I made it now, I am really happy and hopefully tomorrow [the 200 freestyle final] I can just swim a good time and hopefully a best time.”
Haughey does not believe she will be the last of the city’s swimmers to make a final. "I'm sure there's more to come in terms of Hong Kong swimming."


Haughey excited to make final


Track cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze left for Tokyo on Tuesday morning aiming to add to Hong Kong’s Olympic glory after fencer Cheung Ka-long’s gold medal the night before.
The London 2012 bronze medallist said she did not dare watch Cheung’s final because she did not want to become too “excited” before her departure.
“As long as he was in the final, which means Hong Kong could at least win a medal, I stopped watching it to stay calm,” she said “In fact, I only watched the final this morning to enjoy the golden moment.”


Cycling star could not watch Cheung triumph

China’s table tennis great Ma Long said he was happy to come through his first round match against Kamal Achanta, which he said was “tough”.
“Of course at the Olympics every match - no matter the opponent, no matter the country - it’s always tough,” he said. “I did prepare for difficulties. The third game was crucial. After gutting it out the last two games were better. Under these circumstances, everyone feels pressure.
“The identity of my opponent is not out yet. I know there are no easy matches. I hope I can prepare for difficulties: a 4-2, 4-3-type match.”   


Every match is tough, says Ma

Defending Olympic champions Fiji take on Australia in the afternoon’s knock-out games, which start at 4.30pm.
The Australian men are hoping to emulate their women’s team, who won gold in Rio five years ago, but are definitely underdogs against the pacific islanders.
Great Britain, who were well beaten in the final in 2016, take on the United States, while South Africa, who won bronze last time out face Argentina.
The first game sees New Zealand clash with Canada.


Teams set for rugby sevens quarter-finals


Hong Kong’s mixed doubles badminton duo Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet face Brits Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in their quarter-final tomorrow, at 10.40am Hong Kong.
The Brits won a group containing Canada, Thailand and France, winning all three matches 2-0. Given the Thai pairing of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai are ranked No 2 in the world, beating them in the last game was no mean feat. 
“The win is up there. We haven’t beaten them before,” Smith said afterwards. “We’ve lost to them a few times, so for us to do it on this stage is very important and it makes a big difference going forward. We knew after yesterday that this was a freebie game and that took the pressure off, and it was ours to take and theirs to lose, and I kept reminding myself of that.”
Ellis and Smith are currently No 8 in the world and their Hong Kong opponents five places below, however the results over the years have favoured the Hong Kong pair 2-1 dating back to 2017. The Brits’ only win came in the most recent meeting in the quarter-final of the BWF Tour Birmingham Open last March. That ended 2-1.


Brits up next for badminton pair

ICHINOMIYA, Japan (AP) — An offshore tropical storm brought wind and rain to the Tokyo region and affected some Olympic events on Tuesday as it headed towards northeastern Japan, where stormier conditions were forecast.
The Japan Meteorological Agency predicted Nepartak would bring heavy rains, strong winds and high waves to northeastern Japan in advance of its landfall around midday tomorrow north of the capital region.
The tropical storm had winds of 72km/h around midday today off Chiba on Japan’s central-eastern coast, the agency said. It forecast the storm would maintain its current strength through the day but would weaken before making landfall near the city of Akita, about 570km northeast of Tokyo.


Tropical storm update


Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka said that everything that could go wrong did in her third round 6-1, 6-4 loss to the Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova earlier today.
The poster girl for the Games did not try to hide her disappointment saying that while every defeat hurt she felt like “this one sucks more than the others”.
As the athlete given the honour of lighting the Olympic Cauldron, Osaka acknowledged the pressure she had been under to win gold on home soil.
“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this. I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in the Olympics before and for the first year [it] was a bit much,” Osaka said.


Defeat ‘sucks’, says Osaka

More good news for Hong Kong, which is a nice thing to type after those first couple of days being so tough, is a win in the badminton.
Cheung Ngan-yi got her women's singles off to an ideal start with a 2-1 win over Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova (21-12, 15-21, 21-16).
The bad news is that Cheung faces India's PV Sindhu in her other group game tomorrow morning. Sindhu is the sixth seed in Tokyo.


Winning start for Cheung in badminton

Paul Ryding in Tokyo
“Finally something to smile about for Hong Kong’s epee women at the very climax of their Olympic campaign. A quite stunning last-round fightback by Vivian Kong snatches a rare win for the Hong Kong team, 28-27 at the death, and with it 7th place in the competition.
“Hong Kong trailed 20-25 going into the ninth and final three-minute round. A result not to be sniffed at. The Russians are ranked fourth in the world with Hong Kong 15th. Hsieh and Kong really shone in the team event today. Tempting to wonder how different it may have been if their teammates had played up just a little.”


Ending on a high note

Inspired by the success of Cheung Ka-long, the head of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, Lam Tai-fai, wants government to plough unlimited resources into the athletes of the future.
Cheung’s historic gold medal gave Lam a sleepless night as he kept reliving the magic of his foil win over Italian Daniele Garozzo.
Appearing on a radio show this morning, the former lawmaker said he was overjoyed.
“I didn’t sleep well last night because I kept looping the scenes of the competition,” he said. “I believe the number of full-time professional athletes will increase in the future, [so] training for young people needs to be stepped up. Resources from the [government] should continue to rise, and there should not be a ceiling.”


Show us the money


Tonight there are some big medals on offer. Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee will lead the US team in the women's Artistic Gymnastics team final.
Lee, the first Hmong-American to represent the US at the Olympics, outscored Biles on the second day of the US trials to become the first person to beat the multiple gold medallist in a day of all-around since 2013.
The US face Russia, who beat them in the qualifying round, with Japan and China in the mix. The final also sees Britain, France, Belgium and Italy out to topple the US.
Elsewhere, the US and Japan go head-to-head for softball gold in a repeat of the last final 13 years ago. Japan won that as their pitcher Yukiko Ueno well remembers. She was key to Japan's 3-1 win in Beijing in 2008 and is still going strong today in Tokyo. The US are unbeaten though having won all five. Japan are 4-1 at these Olympics.


More gold up for grabs

The men's 100m freestyle heats are also tonight, when Singapore swimming star Joseph Schooling will retun to the pool. Schooling shocked the sport in Rio five years ago and is looking for another gold in Tokyo. You can read all about him here.


Schooling the opposition


China’s volleyball team have a couple of days to regroup after their defeat at the hands of the US this morning, their second successive 3-0 loss.
However, Lang Ping’s team looked far better than they did against Turkey in the first game, and the coach said there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.
“The performance wasn’t too bad at all,” the Chinese volleyball legend said. “But our blocking especially against their number 12 [Jordan Thompson] was not good enough. We could only stop their offense but failed to score points directly from our counter attack.”
Lang paid tribute to the players’ hunger for success, as Zhu Ting scored a team-high 18 points despite having an injured wrist, while her replacement Li Yingying also had 11, with Yuan Xinyue hitting nine.
“We have to face the reality and need to take it match by match from now on,” she said. “We need to play more aggressive and not remain conservative.”
China face Russia in their next match on Thursday. There are six teams in the group with top four qualifying for the quarter-finals.


Performance not all bad, says Lang


Yang Haoran and Yang Qian have given China a sweep in the first two mixed team shooting events, beating Americans Lucas Kozeniesky and Mary Tucker in 10m air rifle.
Yang and Yang won the gold medal match 17-13, giving China its eighth medal in nine shooting events at the Tokyo Olympics.
Russians Sergey Kamenskiy and Yulia Karimova won the bronze medal match 17-9 over South Korea’s Kwon Eunji Nam Taeyun.
The gold is Yang Qian’s second of the Tokyo Olympics after she won the women’s individual 10m rifle. Yang Haoran also took the bronze in the men’s individual event.
Pang Wei and Jiang Ranxin won gold in 10m air pistol mixed team earlier at Asaka Shooting Range.



More gold for China


Taiwan has its first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kuo Hsing-chun dominates the women’s 59kg weightlifting event, setting Olympic records in the snatch (103kg), clean and jerk (133kg), and total (236kg). 
Turkmenistan’s Polina Guryeva (217kg total) took the silver medal and Japan’s Mikiko Andoh (214kg) won bronze.
Read the full report here.


Taiwan’s first gold


Earlier in the diving pool, Chen Yuxi and Zhang Jiaqi won the Chinese diving Dream Team’s second gold medal – and an eighth overall for China at the Tokyo Games – with an overwhelming score of 363.78 in the women’s synchronised 10m platform.
It was a face-saving victory for the mainlanders after their defeat by British pair Tom Daley and Matty Lee in the corresponding men’s event on Monday. Daley and Lee beat favourites Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen by a close margin of 1.23 points, a result that also stopped the Chinese from scoring a clean sweep of all eight diving events.
Chen won the women’s 10m platform at the 2019 World Championships when Zhang lifted the synchronised title at the same event with another partner. They formed a new team at the beginning of the year and succeeded in most of their warm-up events leading up to the Games.
Read the full report here.



Dream Team back on track


The plaudits and adulation have been coming thick and fast for Hidilyn Diaz.
The 30-year-old Filipino weightlifter won her country’s first Olympic gold medal in its 97-year history of competing at the Games on Monday night, setting an Olympic record in the 55kg category.
Now the Philippines’ most famous athlete has given her some warm words on social media – read what Manny Pacquiao had to say about Diaz’s triumph here.


Pacquiao ‘so proud’


Hong Kong's Doo Hoi-kem goes off shortly in her singles table tennis last-16 match against Netherlands' Britt Eerland, the world No 28.
On paper at least, Doo should have the measure of the 27-year-old and make it to the quarters.


Just Doo it

Paul Ryding in Tokyo
“A see-saw opening game with each paddler taking and relinquishing the lead throughout. But after two game points at deuce, Eerland pulls clear and takes the first game 13-11.
Tight one, though. We could be in for a long match here.”


Doo falls behind


Paul Ryding in Tokyo
“And Doo pulls level in game two, 11-5. That’s more like it from the Hong Kong No 1. She dominated that game.”
